The present disclosure relates to wireless communications in general, and in particular, to satellite beam handover based on predicted network conditions.
Increasingly, passengers on commercial aircraft desire broadband network access while in-flight. Passenger aircraft may receive network access service via a shared communication link such as a satellite communications link. The aircraft may have an on-board multi-user access terminal that communicates with ground stations (e.g., via a satellite of a satellite communications system) and provides network access connectivity for the passengers. For example, users may connect their communication devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.) to a wireless local area network (WLAN) served by the multi-user access terminal, which routes data communications to other networks (e.g., the Internet) via the shared communication link. The satellite communications system may be a multi-beam satellite system and the shared communication link may use resources of a satellite beam for the shared communication link. While the resources of each satellite beam may be flexibly applied, each aircraft may represent a large number of users, all potentially accessing broadband content concurrently. Increasing bandwidth for wireless communications systems is expensive and sometimes additional usable spectrum is unavailable. An aircraft within the coverage area of a satellite beam may have a large impact on the utilization of network resources within the beam, and in some instances particular beams of a satellite system may become over-utilized.